Personal Narrative: Magic Tree Home

My earliest reading memory was when I was five with the little golden book series. I loved getting new books and reading them. But most of all I loved when my mother read to me so I could look at the pictures as my imagination went wild with stories about Jack climbing up the beanstalk or a king searching a kingdom for a worthy princess.

Thanks to hours and hours of bedtime stories, I was able to read from the age of 3. In kindergarten I read to my classmates, and by second grade I was reading series like The Boxcar Children and Trixie Belden. Books allowed me to get lost in other worlds full of adventure and excitement. My love for what words can do has extended through high school. I pride myself on my book collection, anything from Hunger Games to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I’ve continued to read all the way through high school, some books four or five times because I love them so much.

As the years went on, I continued to read. I would read books any time I got the chance. Sixth grade was one of my favorite years. We were able to read for half an hour every day. We also read in book club. We were required to read two books a month, but I usually read four or five. I loved to find new series that I liked.

I was not always a fan of reading though. I blame this on the type of school teachers I have in my secondary level education. It was not until I got to community college where I began an appreciation for both reading and writing. The first book that grabbed me was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, which is Walls’ memoir that focused on the events of growing up with her family that, at times, caused her to be homeless--among other harsh situations.

My dad started reading to me when I was around the age of four or five. I was specifically interested in the book How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?. My dad read that to me probably every night for two months, until I could “read” it back to him. The reason “read” is in quotations is because I really only memorized the book and the order he would say the words, but looking back now, I think I give a lot of credit for that time in helping me stay ahead in my reading classes. Being able to recognize what certain words looked like helped me make new words and build sentences a little quicker than most kids my age.

The first book I remember reading was Go Dogs Go by P.D. Eastman. I would read that book once a day with my mother, and never get tired of it. Then other books like The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, and many other Dr. Seuss books came next. I couldn’t read enough of them growing up through kindergarten and first grade. Then all of a sudden I moved to Chelan and forced to read to meet my AR goal. Now, I am not trying to blame Accelerated Reader for my lack of motivation to read today, but I do believe it played a role in how I began to hate reading in elementary school.

I can remember the nights after dinner my mother sat and read different kinds of books to us. My sister and I love the Disney book. They were so delightful, like eating candy for the first time. Cinderella was one of my favorite. We clean up took, a bath and brush our teeth and waited on our mother to come read to us. I can remember one time I believe I was about five or six when my mother read Dr. Suess book The Grinch

I have always loved reading due to the exciting stories and the interesting characters that provide a good backbone. All my early books I remember as feel good tales to make the young reader fall in love with the characters while usually having a central theme to teach. Some of the charm of these books was how it got the reader engaged and taught along the way. Just like children shows such as Sesame Street the books where entertaining and also educational so it gave children a early start for school; I would be excited whenever the teacher would teach something and you would already know the new word or

As a child I used to beg my mother to take me to the bookstore, because I had finished my newest Junie B. Jones book the night prior. I owned and read every Junie B. Jones ever made. As I got older I read through many other series. Such as the Babysitters Club, Goosebumps, Sweet Valley High, and the Boxcar Children. I would stay up all night reading

My parents would occasionally read to me when I was young, but my mother said that I couldn’t stand still long enough to have her read to me. She mentioned that I would instead lay where I could find a spot and block everyone out to read my book. I still enjoy reading, but

“We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” This is a compelling quote spoken by Louis Brandeis, who was U.S. Supreme Court Justice and lived from 1856 to 1941. His words illustrate the ever-growing issue of inequality that has existed in this country for many years. Being aware of and understanding the changing rates of income inequality in the U.S throughout history is crucial in order to progress by making positive changes in today’s society.

Every night my mom would read me a chapter or two of a “Junie B Jones” book. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to read by myself. I enjoyed reading when I first learned how. The first series I really liked was “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. I’ve read every single book in the series. Whenever a new book from the series would come out, i’d get it first thing the next day. I never really read that often after I finished the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. Those books really entertained me and anything else I read from the point didn't sway me. In fourth grade, I had a really awesome teacher that was really hard on me, but I really believe she helped me the most. I don't remember everything we did, I really don’t remember most of the stuff we did. I just remember getting to 5th grade and writing was so easy for me. So was math, science, etc.

Reading has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was a little child. I grew up as a normal child should grow and eventually I had to start learning for me to fit in society. My literacy started many years ago, after I knew how to talk and communicate with people. Reading my alphabet was quite stressful and I had to be given a hand by my family members. I remember my parents reading with me and it was the most meaningful and memorable way to spend time with me. This is because I liked reading a lot and I was eager to learn so that I could fit in with my older siblings. My favorite books were storybooks taking about adventures and fairytales

As a six-month-old baby books had opened up a whole entire new world of experience for me. My inspiration to learn how to read and write was encouraged by my Mother and Grandmother. This is because they read out loud to me before bed occasionally and gave me the best time of my life by introducing me to a library. By two years of age I developed speech and other communication skills. This helped me understand and develop a favorite book, “PJ Funny Bunny,” and I would stare at the pages pretending I was reading them. I would continually pretend to read with other Dr. Seuss books, Smurf pop-up books (I imagined I was a part of these for hours), sniff & scratches, and sensory books. I had just begun

Through the years of elementary school, I excelled in reading because of the comprehension I had and my love for books. We were always required to read a book, because we needed a certain amount of accelerated reading points each month. My favorite books were Junie B. Jones and Captain Underpants. I enjoyed reading during these years because it came natural to me and I admired the fictional aspects of books and the way they could make my mind run wild. The teachers I had I credit some of my success to because they helped me succeed in reading during elementary school.